Bahamas survivors flee worst-hit areas

Tens of thousands are believed to be homeless or in need of help.

The U.S. humanitarian response in islands devastated by Hurricane Dorian has shifted into a new phase as desperate survivors flee the worst-hit areas of the Bahamas for towns and cities

that were largely spared. Though some remain behind, many residents of the storm-battered Abaco Islands have left for Nassau, Freeport and other areas where more assistance is available. Shelters are overflowing, and local officials have reported a surge in looting. Tens of thousands of people are believed to be homeless or in need of help.

The extent of the damage here and elsewhere in the Abaco Islands is so great, the work of assessing it so arduous and the

Bahamian government so overwhelmed that a full accounting of the missing and dead may not be known for weeks or even months.

The official death toll attributed to the hurricane remained at 44, but there is no estimate yet of how many people are unaccounted for. The Bahamian security forces are still responding to reports of missing and trapped people, officials said, and teams of forensic investigators are still combing through storm debris.

The United States has provided $2.8 million in aid for the Bahamas, about a third for food and the rest for shelter, hygiene kits and other commodities, and for coordinating relief efforts. So far, 47 metric tons of supplies donated by the United States have arrived.

About 80 Americans involved in humanitarian aid have been on the ground since Friday. The

challenges remain mammoth. The most pressing task is being done by 57 search-and-rescue specialists from Fairfax County, Virginia. They start at sunrise and work until sundown, wading through marshes in 100-degree heat, slogging on foot through pockets of mud, debris and garbage left when the high water receded.